Arcep must remain independent vis-a-vis government - EC

Friday 14 January 2011 | 09:36 CET | News

The European Commission will closely verify the conformity with European regulations of the French government's plan to name a commissioner at national telecommunications regulator Arcep, EC telecommunications spokesman Jonathan Todd told AFP. Arcep must be able to exercise its powers and to fulfill its responsibilities independently and impartially, he said. France's digital economy minister has supported the creation of a government commissioner post at Arcep, stating that it would not put the regulator under supervision or challenge its independence. Todd said the EC would be watchful that the dialogue between Arcep and the government does not compromise Arcep's impartiality and noted that the French state was a major shareholder in France Telecom. Le Monde reports that national telecommunications regulators' independence is particularly important to the EC, which has intervened in the past in several countries where it thought it was threatened, notably in Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovenia.

Free Headlines in your E-mail

Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.